Tseng Wen-ding’s tie-breaking slam and key blocked shot with under a minute remaining lifted Taiwan Team A past Iran 80-76 in Jones Cup play at the Taipei County Sinjhuang Gymnasium on Saturday night.
The Yulon Luxgen center — who was hampered by injuries throughout the season — turned in one of his best efforts of the year by scoring a team-high 23 points, three blocked shots and three rebounds to show why he is still the premier big man in the Super Basketball League.
With Iran’s starting center Hamed Ehadadi sidelined with stomach problems, the heavily favored defending champs of the 2007 Asian Championship suddenly looked beatable as the hosts attacked the Iranian low-post with stellar play by Tseng and fellow center Wu Dai-hao of Taiwan Beer, with the pair netting a combined 33 points and 10 boards.
PHOTO: LO PEI-DER, TAIPEI TIMES
An evenly fought first half that ended appropriately in a 38-all deadlock got the crowd into the game. Even though Taiwan opened the second half on a down note — allowing a 10-2 scoring run for Iran — they answered with a 15-4 run of their own to grab a 55-52 lead.
The seesaw battle continued with neither team able to take leads larger than five down the stretch until the tie at 76 set the stage for Tseng’s last-minute heroics.
With the win, Taiwan Team A improved to 5-2 for the tournament. Another win over arch-rival South Korea in the final game coupled with rather unlikely losses by Jordan and Iran in their final games could give the home team a grand finish as high as second place.
OUT AGAINST INDONESIA: Taiwan reached the semi-finals at the tournament for the first time by defeating Denmark, with Chou Tien-chen beating Viktor Axelsen Taiwan yesterday crashed out of the Thomas Cup team competition in Chengdu, China, but achieved their best result at the top-tier badminton event by reaching the semi-finals. Indonesia were too good in the semis, winning 3-0 to advance to today’s final against China, who eliminated Malaysia 3-1. In the opening singles of the men’s team clash at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium 2, Anthony Ginting defeated Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen 21-18, 21-19 in 51 minutes, which put a huge hole in Taiwan’s aspirations to perhaps even make the final. In the men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Ardianto downed Lee Yang and Wang
Rafael Nadal on Tuesday lost in straight sets to 31st-ranked Jiri Lehecka in the fourth round at the Madrid Open, while Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei advanced to the semi-finals in the women’s doubles. Nadal said that he was feeling good about his progress following his latest injury layoff. Nadal called it a “positive week” in every way and said his body held up well. “I was able to play four matches, a couple of tough matches,” Nadal said. “So very positive, winning three matches, playing four matches at the high level of tennis. I enjoyed a lot playing at home. I leave here with
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek on Saturday came through “the most intense and crazy final” she has ever contested to avenge her loss to Aryna Sabalenka in last year’s Madrid Open final with a grueling three hour, 11 minute victory in the Spanish capital. Coming back from 1-3 down in the decider and saving three match points in total, Swiatek claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory to secure the Madrid Open trophy for the first time. “Well, who is going to say now that women’s tennis is boring, right?” Swiatek said. Swiatek, who picked up the 20th title of her career, and ninth at
When 42-1 underdog James ‘Buster’ Douglas shocked ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson 34 years ago at the Tokyo Dome, the result reverberated worldwide. Spectators at the 45,000-plus seater venue witnessed one of boxing’s biggest upsets as unbeaten heavyweight champion Tyson was knocked out in the 10th round by the unheralded Douglas in February 1990. Boxing returns to the famous venue on Monday for the first time since that unforgettable encounter when Japan’s undisputed super-bantamweight world champion Naoya ‘Monster’ Inoue puts his belts on the line against Mexican Luis Nery. The 31-year-old Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) is a huge star in Japan and is just